i'm a nursing student about to start second semester, first clinical semester. i'm getting increasingly concerned about the content of nursing school. i like science and pathophysiology. i don't like busy work or brainstorming about the "8 holistic parameters" and how they relate to every little thing. i don't like reading a care plan for ob (2 semesters from now) that says things like "interventions: 1) provide a supportive atmosphere, 2) provide reinforcement for infant care taking behaviors, 3) provide opportunities for adequate rest", and so on. is that realistically what i have to look forward to? i guess i'm looking to find out how much science there is actually involved, compared to the more touchy feely stuff, when you are actually a working rn. i may be able to stand the whole "assessing for fall risk" type of thing if it's not really so much like that in the real world. i'm really resenting that we're being told, basically, how to be good human beings, not professionals. i'm feeling like i'm on the verge of a meltdown and school hasn't even started back up yet. i just pray that it gets way more difficult and way less feely (although that care plan i read is from 4th semester), ugh....
Specializes in Med-Surg/Peds/O.R./Legal/cardiology.
Uhh.... You'd do well to start working on the "impatient" part--NOW. If you're familiar with the Bible, nursing requires the patience of Job! Nurses who are impatient end up burning out very early and do a lot of this
1) provide a supportive atmosphere, 2) provide reinforcement for infant care taking behaviors, 3) provide opportunities for adequate rest", and so on. Is that realistically what I have to look forward to?
Not Sure If I can answer your question. When I was becoming a nurse my whole focus was to get through what ever hurdle I was faced with. I hated the lectures in community health but loved being out on the field. I hated statistics but actual found some of the research interesting. The bottom line I knew there was stuff I did not like but it was part of the process to get through school so I bit my lip and did what I had to do to get through the process and like any schooling most of the real learning in out in the field doing it. I have to say for all I that I hated the process some time I find my nursing falls back on the basics I learned in school.
Let me go to what you posted. Like you say it appears to be common sense but believe it not when your on the floor with 5 or 7 patients and your partner goes on break and you have 10 to 14 patients your covering and your hyper focused on monitors, labs, meds and sending patient to testing , answering call bell dealing with staff problems which I wont go into how complex that can get well the above may not be your priority. Sometime stabilizing sometimes other things become priority.
Had a patient that all the nurses would say how bad a patient she was and how difficult she was finally one day I got her as my patient on report again the first thing was how bad the patient was and how demanding etc.
I was so curious about this patient since every one complained about her I went in and talked to her. I asked her a few questioned and found out she was a nurse 40 yrs she had a picture in her bible with the white cap and cape. Found out she had not slept in the past few nights, found out she had been feeling depressed about lost of a loved one, found out that while pct had cleaned her private areas she had not had a head to toe. So that day, I bathed her head to toe myself, got the PA to order her some sleeping meds. and after I took care of my other patients I would try to take time and talk to her I had her for a few days so bought her some flowers put it in her table cause I new she was depressed. I made a copy of her nursing picture and put it up in the room so others could see. I told her it made me proud to have met someone who was a nurse back in the day with the white cap and had put in 40yrs of her life caring for others. I ended my three days with her and the patient had perked up quite a bit. The other nurses who got her said they donot know why that patient always got such a bad review and said she was there best patient. She was getting out of bed now and starting to feel better. My point is that as silly as the books sound I provided some supportive atmosphere, I provide reinforcement to the patient and I offered some opportunities for adequate rest (nice bath and sleeping pill she slept throught the night) Where the other nurses bad no but they probably got caught up with some major stuff like uncontrolled heart rates maybe or someone not breathing having to given lots of meds the patient fell through the crack in term of the stuff listed below. therefore some really good nurses can sometimes be caught up with lots of stuff on a unit and sometimes being reminded about the basics is just as important as the really major stuff.
1) provide a supportive atmosphere, 2) provide reinforcement for infant care taking behaviors, 3) provide opportunities for adequate rest", and so on. Is that realistically what I have to look forward to?
So now when I look at what you posted I dont think its so silly to teach about it. All people are not the same and some have to be taught or at least reminded that the above stuff is part of nursing too and it often times make the most difference to the patient on the unit. Patient can know your giving him meds to make the heat beat right, know that the IV fluids your hanging is helping stay alive but sometimes all they really want to know is if they matter to you and if you can take 5minutes to talk to them. Its seems foolish when you write that in a book but when you live nursing you will see some times taking time to talk to the patient is not alway possible cause of the high demand of your work load that you sometimes can get. That will not be reality till you become a nurse on a unit and all 5 of your patient demand something from you all at once and if they do that for all three nights you will be terrified to pass there room lol.................Good luck and like I said cant say for sure if answered your post but its my thought on the situation.
uhh.... you'd do well to start working on the "impatient" part--now. if you're familiar with the bible, nursing requires the patience of job! nurses who are impatient end up burning out very early and do a lot of this
and this :scrm:and this :sasq:
oh dear! i see a lot of that in my future. =) i do have an absolute need to feel like i'm getting somewhere. you think that's bad for nursing? i'm seriously curious.
hmmm well, you never can tell where life is going to take a person so who knows? maybe she will learn from her mistakes as she goes along. she never did do anything as stupid as she did on that day so that is an improvement but she generally thought that all of that therapeutic communication stuff was stupid so who can say for sure?
just my personal opinion but i don't think that the empathy you express to the patients has to come from the bottom of your heart. there are always going to be patients who annoy and repulse you for whatever reason. regardless of whatever personal feelings you have they still deserve as much "caring" as the patients you do like.
when those times come then you will have to use your skills. this is when you will have to go against your instincts and remember the care plan silliness and use it like a checklist: provide emotional support, use therapeutic communications skills, restrain judgmental attitude...etc, just to get along with that patient long enough to get that pill down their throat and move on.
i hadn't actually heard that saying but i dig it! and i must ask, do you think block-head could learn to be compassionate because she is supposed to be? i cannot believe that someone would do that! like i said, i haven't started clinicals so i've yet to witness the atrocities that some of my classmates are sure to commit!
after reading these posts i'm really feeling better and i truly thank all of you that have replied. i have a huge heart for this profession but i admit i'm impatient and expect most people to think like me. sounds like i need to work on that.
i was so curious about this patient since every one complained about her i went in and talked to her. i asked her a few questioned and found out she was a nurse 40 yrs she had a picture in her bible with the white cap and cape. found out she had not slept in the past few nights, found out she had been feeling depressed about lost of a loved one, found out that while pct had cleaned her private areas she had not had a head to toe. so that day, i bathed her head to toe myself, got the pa to order her some sleeping meds. and after i took care of my other patients i would try to take time and talk to her i had her for a few days so bought her some flowers put it in her table cause i new she was depressed. i made a copy of her nursing picture and put it up in the room so others could see. i told her it made me proud to have met someone who was a nurse back in the day with the white cap and had put in 40yrs of her life caring for others. i ended my three days with her and the patient had perked up quite a bit. the other nurses who got her said they donot know why that patient always got such a bad review and said she was there best patient. she was getting out of bed now and starting to feel better. my point is that as silly as the books sound i provided some supportive atmosphere, i provide reinforcement to the patient and i offered some opportunities for adequate rest (nice bath and sleeping pill she slept throught the night) where the other nurses bad no but they probably got caught up with some major stuff like uncontrolled heart rates maybe or someone not breathing having to given lots of meds the patient fell through the crack in term of the stuff listed below. therefore some really good nurses can sometimes be caught up with lots of stuff on a unit and sometimes being reminded about the basics is just as important as the really major stuff.
thank you for your heartfelt response. i have a feeling you're not the type that would have to be reminded! i think that what you did for that woman is amazing. i'm sure it completely transformed her stay and probably much more than that.
Just my personal opinion but I don't think that the empathy you express to the patients has to come from the bottom of your heart. There are always going to be patients who annoy and repulse you for whatever reason. Regardless of whatever personal feelings you have they still deserve as much "caring" as the patients you do like.
Excellent point! I'm so glad I posed this question on here!
Specializes in Jack of all trades, and still learning.
It seems so strange to me that such basic common sense and decency has to be "taught". I suppose I just think that if you don't have that certain something that makes people trust you and get along with others, in general, you aren't going to learn it because it's on a list of the "right" things to do. And if you do it because the list says so and it's not naturally in you, wont people see though that and you'll still end up untrustworthy.
I see where you are coming from. But interaction with ppl is a skill. And writing these things out does help. Imagine, if you will, a person who has never had much contact with children. It takes a while to figure out how to reach out to them, how to communicate on their level. You're 'talking' to one now. After four months on a children's ward, I was finally grasping those skills.
Therapeutic communication is also a skill. Just having compassion is often not enough, when dealing with some of the complex situations that we deal with regularly in acute care (I can only speak for acute care, as that is where I work). I'd imagine the same to be true for home health, hospice, and LTC as well.
I really appreciate what all of you have said! I certainly understand the need for compassion, human touch, etc, but I feel like the ability to be trusted, in any relationship, comes from within. It seems so strange to me that such basic common sense and decency has to be "taught". I suppose I just think that if you don't have that certain something that makes people trust you and get along with others, in general, you aren't going to learn it because it's on a list of the "right" things to do. And if you do it because the list says so and it's not naturally in you, wont people see though that and you'll still end up untrustworthy. I mean, isn't it common sense to make sure a mother can feed her child before sending them home? I would think that if that didn't occur to a person they really shouldn't be a nurse! Please do correct me if I'm wrong! I'd love to hear that this might actually help at least one student so we're not ALL wasting our time. Ok, yeah, I'm frustrated! =) I just know that as a mother, no one had to teach me to care about my children, and I see nursing the same way.
Although it may seem mundane, repetitive & incredibly stupid, we are taught to document EVERYTHING! This includes any teaching &/or training given to a new mother, etc... So you may find yourself including statements and interventions in a care plan that may be common sense and decency. You may also find yourself documenting aspects of care in day to day charting that seem SO ridiculous, but after all...when the lawsuit trickles down to you, you better make sure you've covered your behind! My instructors stressed documentation, can you tell??
The caring aspects of nursing may occur to one, but he or she may have to document it anyway. Don't assume that just because it is written out it doesn't come naturally to one nurse or another. Just my opinion & experience. Good luck with school! It may kick your butt, but it's worth the effort! God Bless!!
Specializes in Critical care, neuroscience, telemetry,.
I gotta say, Futuro Enfemera, I feel your pain.......
I started nursing clinicals just as NANDA and nursing diagnoses was getting off the ground. Most of the diagnoses made me want to retch - "Alteration in comfort - pain" (no kidding, Sherlock, the pt. just had major surgery!) and my personal favorite, "Knowledge Deficit", which seemed to get assigned to everyone, because, hey, we can always teach 'em something!
Spare me the lectures on patience and compassion, and please don't assume that I am not compassionate and empathetic with those entrusted to my care. I LOVE being a nurse. I don't particularly care for a lot of the touchy-feely verbage and twaddle that seems to accompany my chosen profession. I've always been kind of amazed that you have to spell some of those things out on care plans (which, incidentally, I sucked at in school, but which in ICU, I rather like, due to a little more physiology and a lot less fluff.)
I think you'll like nursing, FE. Just remember that nursing school is not a lot like being an actual nurse and many of the assignments are hoops to jump through to get to where you want to be. Develop a warped sense of humor and learn to roll your eyes when no one is looking. You'll do fine.
i'm a nursing student about to start second semester, first clinical semester. i'm getting increasingly concerned about the content of nursing school. i like science and pathophysiology. i don't like busy work or brainstorming about the "8 holistic parameters" and how they relate to every little thing. i don't like reading a care plan for ob (2 semesters from now) that says things like "interventions: 1) provide a supportive atmosphere, 2) provide reinforcement for infant care taking behaviors, 3) provide opportunities for adequate rest", and so on. is that realistically what i have to look forward to? i guess i'm looking to find out how much science there is actually involved, compared to the more touchy feely stuff, when you are actually a working rn. i may be able to stand the whole "assessing for fall risk" type of thing if it's not really so much like that in the real world. i'm really resenting that we're being told, basically, how to be good human beings, not professionals. i'm feeling like i'm on the verge of a meltdown and school hasn't even started back up yet. i just pray that it gets way more difficult and way less feely (although that care plan i read is from 4th semester), ugh....
what am i really in for?
i am not an angel wiping a fevered brow at the expense of my knowledge base and professional manner. i incorporate the caring aspect of my practice into the pathophys and the other science. being able to kindly explain to a family member why their loved one in the bed needs a breathing machine or why we draw the blood cultures into those little bottles that look like airplane booze. they have to teach it in nursing school, even though it seems like common sense because it reminds us to not forget that we are taking care of an actual person when "the patient in icu bed b" has an a-line, a swann, a transduced cvp, aortic balloon pump, intubated, on pressors, receiving cvvhdf and pouring out copious amounts of both sputum and stool all at once. perhaps they force students to stop and think about the people underneath the "chief complaint" - and to apply it towards taking care of ourselves as well.
so it's tedious to write it all out, and i promise you that you will use it - even if it's more of a natural thing and not "step 5, provide comfort" on your written care plan!
and this :scrm:and this :sasq:
ebear, BSN, RN
934 Posts
Uhh.... You'd do well to start working on the "impatient" part--NOW. If you're familiar with the Bible, nursing requires the patience of Job! Nurses who are impatient end up burning out very early and do a lot of this